Toxic air in your car
BY PHILIP S. CHUA M.D FACS, FPCS
Toxic air in your car
PHILIP S. CHUA M.D FACS, FPCS
‘Your automobile could pose some risks to your life, even before it moves.’
ENTERING you car, without first opening the windows for a few minutes to allow air from the outside to circulate and aerate the inside, especially when parked under the sun, may be hazardous to your health.
Indeed, your automobile could pose some risks to your life, even before it moves. Like we exercise great caution when driving to prevent injuries to ourselves and to others leading to loss of limb or life, so should we protect ourselves and passengers in our car, even prior to boarding it.
We are referring to the toxic air in the car from chemical vapor coming from heated dashboard and other interior parts of the car made of plastic and synthetic sofa materials, and from air fresheners and aerosols. Turning the air-conditioning on, without prior aeration (to replace stale and impure air with fresh one) through all four opened windows, will only re-circulate the polluted air within the car.
The toxin Benzene, a carcinogen (cancer-causing) is said to be emitted when plastic is subjected to a high temperature, like in a closed parked car under the sun. Besides being harmful to persons with asthma and allergies, air fresheners and aerosols used in cars and at home, are likewise suspects for toxicity, which could cause harm to bones, blood cells, liver, kidneys, etc.
Experts believe that the acceptable indoor level of Benzene is 50 mg per square foot. The level goes up to 400-800 mg in a parked car with doors and windows shut. This toxic "vapor" goes up 40 times higher that the "acceptable" level, to 2000-4000 mg, in cars parked with windows closed under the sun at an ambient temperature of 60 degrees F. During summer, the temperature could go up higher than a hundred.
It is, therefore, important to open the car windows to allow stale air to flow out as fresher air from the outside comes in for a couple of minutes, before we enter the car, turn on the air conditioner, close the door and windows, and drive on.
Common sense tells us that the cleaner the air we breathe in, the healthier it is for us. Any strategy to prevent or reduce air pollution around us is well worth all our effort as earthlings. After all, the air we inhale provides us an essential and vital element we cannot live without, one that keeps us alive: oxygen.
When you gas up, it is prudent to turn off the engine of your car and not use the cellphone either. The static from either could cause a massive fire and explosion, which recently happened and almost killed the driver. And to think of the possibility that the whole gas station might blow up is truly scary, to say the least.
In developed countries, low back pains affects more than 70 % of people at some point in their life. Annually, between 15 to 45 % of adults develop acute low back pains and one in twenty (5 %) among them would be so severe to require hospitalization. This condition is most common among those who are between 35 to 55 years of age. If the pain persists for more than 12 weeks, it is called chronic low back pain. In some of these cases, sciatica is present causing pain to radiate to one leg.
The non-specific type of low back pain is where studies have failed to show any recognizable cause, like infection, fracture, kidney stones, arthritis, tumor, osteoporosis, etc). This is so in about 85 % of patients. Four percent is caused by compression fractures, about 1 % due to a tumor, and 1 to 3 % resulting from prolapsed intervertebral disc.
The risks factors for low back pain include frequent bending, heavy physical labor, twisting, lifting, and prolonged static postures (like sitting before the television or computer for hours). There are also some psychosocial risk factors such as depression, anxiety and mental stress at the workplace.
While low back pain has been labeled by some a "status" symbol because "it is a disease of the rich and famous," like John F. Kennedy, it is a myth, because low back pain is most common among office workers, and laborers who lift or carry heavy loads day in and day out.
Low back pain could be very debilitating and disabling. The low back pain of the acute form can often cause "locking" of the back in a bent position, when the person is trying to get up from a sitting or bending position, where severe pain precludes getting up to an upright position at that moment. When the acute episode is present, even coughing, sneezing, or laughing causes an intolerable pain.
Low back pain is one of the commonest causes of absenteeism from work, partial or totally disability, law suits, and diminished productivity, extrapolated to be billions in lost wages, workmen’s compensation and legal awards each year in the United States alone.
When one develops low back pains, medical consultation is essential to make sure they are not due to more serious diseases, The tests might include X-rays and even imaging studies, like MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
If the condition is determined to be the non-specific garden variety of low back pains, the management may include pain medications, muscle relaxants, topical counter-irritant cream or patch (like Bengay, Tiger Balm, Salonpas, etc.), heating pad, back-stretching exercise, and spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). Bed rest, for more than a few minutes, is not recommended.
Avoidance of prolonged sitting, heavy lifting, bending, and any static position, and stretching every now and then, are beneficial. When lifting anything, bending the knees instead of the bending the back is most important. Cognitive behavioral regimen with physical training has also been found effective, together with the symptomatic management stated above. RCT (randomized clinical trials) showed that acupuncture, electromyographic feedbacks, magnetic belt or magnetic back support, herbal and "street" drugs have been found ineffective and useless.
Surgery for low back pain is not recommended, unless all the conservative treatments, which sometimes may include injection to the back of a combination of pain medication and steroid, have been tried exhaustively with no improvement or relief, especially the excruciating pain and numbness of the leg. Consultation with a back specialist is most prudent.
My aching lumbar "alarm" just went off. Time to push myself away from my laptop. My back is killing me.
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